If a play goes just right on the practice field, 49ers linebacker Patrick Willis might give his version of a fiery pep talk. He’ll say, “Good job, defense.” And he’ll leave it at that.

Willis’ gift is for grabbing, not gabbing. That makes him the ideal defensive captain for a team that has resolved to shut up and play. The 49ers are even selling T-shirts this season that say, “Don’t tell me. Show me.” It might as well be Willis’ motto.

“I’m not one of the people who says something every play to hear myself speak,” Willis said as training camp opened over the weekend. “I feel there is a time and a place for everything.”

A quiet leadership style is an intriguing choice for a middle linebacker who models much of his game after the Baltimore Ravens’ Ray Lewis.

Lewis is a loudspeaker without an off switch. He encourages, celebrates, cajoles, admonishes, gestures and gesticulates from sunrise to sundown.

And Willis?

“I just do it whenever the time calls for it,” the linebacker said.

Make no mistake, though. Willis is a leader. At the ripe age of 24, he is the face — if not the mouth — of the 49ers defense.

Willis reached the Pro Bowl in each of his first two seasons, becoming the first 49er to do so since Ronnie Lott. By the NFL’s tablulations, Willis led the league with 174 tackles in 2007 and finished second with 141 last season.

Tackles are an unofficial statistic, but by any count Willis is already an established star. As such, coach Mike Singletary wants him to set the tone on the practice field and in the locker room — even if he does so quietly.

Willis is still growing into the role. “It’s something I have to work on every day,” he said.

But teammates are noticing the change in 2009. Longtime linebacker Jeff Ulbrich, a nine-year veteran and a team leader himself, recalled Willis’ early forays into locker room speeches a year ago.

It wasn’t exactly rousing stuff.

“To tell you the truth, there were times when it didn’t seem like the most natural thing for him to do,” Ulbrich said.

But it’s getting there. At training camp, Willis leads the team in stretching before practice. And he does it with gusto.

Ulbrich said Willis looks much more comfortable in 2009 and went so far as to evoke the name of an all-time locker room leader: Bryant Young was once quiet, too, Ulbrich said.

As a younger player Young used lead by example, keep his mouth shut and defer to more vocal types such as Ken Norton Jr.

“But once B.Y. got that confidence, the words that came out of his mouth would make the hair on your neck stand up,” Ulbrich said. “I think there are some similarities with Pat and B.Y.”

Willis considers another role model when it comes to leadership. He likes the eye-of-the-storm mentality established by the great former middle linebacker for the Chicago Bears of the 1980s.

Fellow by the name of Singletary.

“I’m kind of a molded image of him,” Willis said.

The bond between Willis and Singletary is so tight that the player said he views himself almost like an assistant. He has no problem taking charge after the final whistle, especially a defeat.

“That is one of the things I feel as captains that we have to do: Speak up when things are not going well instead of just going through the motions,” Willis said.

Of course, the 49ers pay Willis to serve as more than a motivational speaker. They expect another step in the evolution for a player credited with double-digit tackles in 26 of 32 career games.

“His progression as a linebacker elevated from his first year to his second and I think it’s going to elevate even more,” defensive coordinator Greg Manusky said.

Willis will do so in his own way: Speak softly and deliver the big lick.

Daniel Brown is a sports writer for the Bay Area News Group known for his award-winning profiles on subjects ranging from Jerry Rice to Sergio Romo to Taylor Swift. The Cotati native is a graduate of UC Davis.